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Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIFA vice president Omega Sibanda and Premier Soccer League boss Kenny Mubaiwa have hailed the unity and commitment to duty displayed by the association’s councillors following a no-holds barred and yet successful annual meeting in Harare on Saturday.

The spirit with which business was conducted at the meeting also put to rest speculation fuelled by some hawks on social media the association was house on fire that was being severely torn apart by rifts.

The ZIFA councillors converged for a marathon meeting that began at 10am and lasted shortly after 5pm at a Harare hotel on Saturday after which they came out with a raft of resolutions, including formally adopting the increase in the size of the domestic Premiership from 16-18 teams, on a substantive basis.

Sibanda reckoned that the indaba had been one of the best ZIFA annual meetings he had attended in years.
“It’s one of the best meetings I have attended. Assembly showed that they understood their statutes and today debate was lively and we came up with a number of resolutions that will also help drive out football.

“Everyone in that meeting was aware of their mandate as the custodians of football in the country and from what I saw, we can only get better and stringer,’’ Sibanda said.

Mubaiwa, who leads the PSL Emergency committee and is also the Dynamos president, saluted the councillors for “putting the interests of football first’’ during their deliberations.

The PSL and ZIFA clashed at the start of last year following a move by the mother body to increase the size of the top-flight league to 18 teams.

But on Saturday that move was formalised as the assembly resolved that it be the new size of the league.
“It was resolved that we will now have 18 teams in the league. I must say it may have been very long but it was a fruitful meeting that shaped the roadmap that our football should take.

“People were frank with frank with each other which what we need and at the end of the day football was the winner. When we openly talk about football issues, it is how we construct our game and I believe that 2018 is going to be a different year and it will be a more progressive year for Zimbabwean football,’’ Mubaiwa said.

Much of the time was also spent debating the ZIFA 2016 audit report with councillors being given an opportune time to get clarification on a number of financial matters from board member finance Philemon Machana.

Machana, just like Sibanda and Mubaiwa, also confirmed that there had been “lively and constructive debate on the audit report’’ with councillors getting clarification on such matters like the $225 000 loan advanced to the associating by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, which enabled the Warriors to charter a flight for their final 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea in Conakry.

“Everyone was given the floor to ask any burning questions they may have had and as many questions as they wanted.
‘‘Some had gone through the accounts which were circulated well before the meeting and had written down their questions,
“There were also some misconceptions around the finances which were clarified and after everyone was satisfied, a resolution was made to adopt the report,’’ Machana said.

The ZIFA assembly also resolved that former Premiership and Highlanders chairman Peter Dube’s suspension from the game be lifted as was that of former Women’s League executive Cecilia Gambe.

ZIFA yesterday formally wrote to Dube advising him of the assembly resolution.
The association’s chief executive Joseph Mamutse, who is also the secretary-general of the assembly, told the former Bosso chairman that the lifting of the suspension was with immediate effect, which means that Dube is free to partake in football activities again.

ZIFA lawyer Itai Ndudzo had earlier also explained that Dube’s suspension had been on the basis that he was a Highlanders’ delegate to the assembly and the Bulawayo giants, who recently held elections for a new club president, won unopposed by Kenneth Mhlope.

“Peter Dube’s suspension was on the basis that he was a Highlanders member and a Highlanders delegate to the congress and with the lifting of the suspension he is eligible for opportunities that may arise for him but it is entirely up to his club,’’ Ndudzo said.

Ndudzo also said Gambe had already served her penalty during her suspension.
More importantly for the development of the game was the fact that the assembly also adopted the Memorandum of Agreement that was signed by ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa and Spanish top-flight league La Liga that has massive prospects for the domestic game.

Chiyangwa sealed the deal with La Liga in South Africa on the eve of the crucial assembly meeting with the move by the Europeans to assist ZIFA, set to change the fortunes of talented footballers in the country.

Zimbabwean football has been crying out for smooth partnerships that will help with meaningful development given that ZIFA alone do not have the financial capacity to sustain projects around the country with the La Liga gesture set to come in handy.

That the assembly ratified the 2016 audited accounts and also approved the 2018 budget, means ZIFA have also become fully compliant with FIFA requirements and can move on to access their chunk of $750 000 for the 2018 FIFA Forward funds.